Pollinating your Apple Trees Increases your crop Size 

Most apple trees need to be pollinated in order to bear fruit, and even self-fertile varieties still benefit. 
However, apple and crab apple trees are very common all over the UK, even in the city, so there is a high chance that you have a suitable pollination partner in your area already, in which case you can ignore this article! 

What are Pollination Partners?

Cross pollination happens when two apple trees of different varieties are in flower at the same time, and insects are present to move the pollen from one flower to the other. 

Pollination groups represent flowering periods, and trees will cross pollinate with other trees in their own group and adjacent groups, e.g. a tree in Pollination Group C will cross pollinate with trees in groups B, C, and D (note that the letters can be replaced with numbers, so Group C is the same as Group 3).

Use our easy pollination checking tool to quickly find partners for a given variety, or browse the table below.

Crab Apple Trees are Perfect Pollination Partners 

Crab apple trees are the best pollinators. They have long flowering periods, therefore covering most pollination groups, and make loads of pollen.
There are plenty of good options, but Malus John Downie or the bright yellow Malus Golden Hornet both make useful fruit for cooking, and are the best for an orchard owner.

Are Apple Trees Self-Fertile?

The holy grail of apple breeding is to produce a variety that pollinates itself and produces its best quality and quantity of fruit: so far, no apple is totally self fertile in the sense of achieving all those things.
a "self-fertile" tree still needs to be pollinated by another variety, although they crop reasonably well without cross pollination.

Triploid Apple Trees:
Triploid trees have totally sterile pollen: they cannot pollinate themselves or other trees. They can only be pollinated by other trees.
This means that a triploid tree needs another tree to pollinate it, and that other tree also needs a pollination partner, since the triploid tree cannot return the favour. 

Bees make Pollination happen:
Thousands of insects get involved in pollination, but bees (including all the wild solitary and bumblebees) do more than 90% of the work: no bees means poor pollination. Everything that attracts & support your local bees is good for your apple trees. Avoid neo-nicotinoid based pesticides, and provide habits for solitary and bumblebees - even better, get a honey bee hive.

A self-fertile tree in a closed greenhouse will need hand pollination to move the pollen around the flower (by the same token, apple breeders use fabric bags to keep insects off the flowers of trees growing outdoors, so that the breeder decides which varieties to cross-pollinate by hand).

Apple Tree Pollination Table

Name Use Harvest

Pollination Group

Fertility note
Bountiful Cooker / Eater Late Sept

A/B

Long flowering period - will cross pollinate with trees in Groups B & C

Ballerina Samba

Eater October

B

 
Bardsey Island Eater Late Sept

B

 

Bright Future

Eater October

B

 
Broadholme Beauty Cooker / Eater September - Dec

B

 
Christmas Pearmain Eater Early Oct

B

Reliably Self Fertile
Core Blimey Eater Oct

B

 
Egremont Russet Eater Late Sept - Early Oct

B

Partially Self Fertile
Foxwhelp Cider Sept

B

 
Greensleeves Eater Oct

B

Partially Self Fertile
Incompatible with: Lord Lambourne
Irish Peach Eater Mid Aug

B

 
Keswick Codlin Cooker / Eater Mid Aug - Sept

B

Partially Self Fertile
Reverend W Wilks Cooker Late Aug - Early Sept

B

Reliably Self Fertile
Rosette Eater Aug

B

 
Slack ma Girdle Cooker / Eater  

B

 
Tremletts Bitter Cider Early Oct

B

 
Adams Pearmain Eater Early Oct

C

 
Allington Pippin Eater/Cooker Oct

C

Partially Self Fertile
Arthur Turner Cooker Late Aug - Nov

C

Partially Self Fertile

Ballerina Flamenco

Eating Mid-October

C

 
Beauty of Bath Eater Early Aug

C

 
Catshead Cooker Oct

C

Triploid
Charles Ross Eater / Cooker Mid Sept

C

Partially Self Fertile
Christmas Pippin Eater Late Oct

C

 
Cobra Eater / Cooker Sept-Oct

C

 
Coxs Orange Pippin Eater Late Sept - Early Oct

C

Incompatible with: Jupiter & Sunset
Crispin Eater Mid Oct

C

Triploid
Incompatible with: Golden Delicious

Delcorf Eater Late Sept

C

 
Discovery Eater Late Aug

C

 
Early Victoria/
Emneth Early
Cooker Aug

B / C

Partially Self Fertile. Long flowering period. 
Elstar Eater Late Oct

C

 
Fortune Eater Sept

C

Partially Self Fertile
Grenadier Cooker Mid Aug

C

Partially Self Fertile
Granny Smith Cooker / Eater Late Oct

C

Self-fertile
Herefordshire Russet Eater Oct

C

 
James Grieve Cooker / Eater Early Sept

C

Partially Self Fertile
Katy / Katya Eater Early Sept

C

 
Lord Lambourne Eater Mid Sept

C

Partially Self Fertile
Incompatible with: Greensleeves
Morgan Sweet Cooker / Eater Sept

B / C

Triploid. Long flowering period. 
Norfolk Royal Russet Eater Sept

C

 
Paradice Gold Eater Oct

C

 
Peasgood Nonsuch Eater Cooker Mid Sept

C

Partially Self Fertile
Red Falstaff Eater Early Oct

C

Partially Self Fertile
Red Windsor Eater Oct

C

 
Ribston Pippin Eater Late Sept - Early Oct

C

Triploid

Rosemary Russet

Eater Mid October

C

 
Santana Eater Late Sept

C

 
Saturn Eater Late Sept

C

Reliably Self Fertile
Scotch Bridget Cooker Early Oct

C

 
Scrumptious Eater Sept - Oct

C

Reliably Self Fertile
Sops in Wine Eater Aug-Oct

C

 
Spartan Eater Early Oct

C

Reliably Self Fertile
Sunset Eater Late Sept

C

Reliably Self Fertile
Incompatible with: Coxs Orange Pippin & Jupiter
Surprize Eater Sept

C

 

Tickled Pink

Eater/Cooker September - October

C

 
Tom Putt Cooker Early Sept

C

 
Worcester Pearmain Eater Mid Sept

C

Partially Self Fertile
Yellow Ingestrie Eater Early Sept

C

 
Ashmeads Kernel Eater / Cider Early - Mid Oct

D

Triploid
Black Dabinett Cider Nov

D

 
Blenheim Orange Eater / Cooker Late Sept - Early Oct

D

Triploid
Bloody Ploughman Eater Mid Sept

D

 
Bramley Cooker Early Oct

D

Triploid
Chivers Delight Eater Mid Oct

D

 
Cornish Aromatic Eater Dec

D

 
Court of Wick Eater Late Sept

D

 
Dunkerton's Late Cider Early Nov

D

 
Ellisons Orange Eater Mid Sept

D

Partially Self Fertile
Fair Maid of Devon Cider  

D

 
Fiesta Eater Late Sept

D

Partially Self Fertile
Fillbarrel Cider Late Sept

D

 
Frederick Cider Mid Oct

D

 
Gala Eater Oct

D

 
Golden Delicious Eater Late Oct

D

Incompatible with: Crispin
Harry Masters Jersey Cider Oct - Early Nov

D

 
Hoary Morning Eater Cooker Early Oct

D

 
Howgate Wonder Cooker Early Oct

D

Partially Self Fertile
Jonagold Eater Mid Oct

D

Triploid
Jupiter Eater Early Oct

D

Triploid Incompatible with: Coxs Orange Pippin & Sunset
Kidds Orange Red Eater Mid Oct

D

 
King of the Pippins Eater Early Oct

D

Partially Self Fertile
Kingston Black Cider Early Nov

D

 
Lanes Prince Albert Cooker Mid Oct

D

Partially Self Fertile
Laxton Superb Eater Early Oct

D

Partially Self Fertile
Limelight Eater Sept

D

 
Lord Derby Cooker Late Sept

D

Partially Self Fertile
Michelin Cider Oct - Early Nov

D

 
Newton Wonder Cooker Mid Oct

D

Partially Self Fertile
Norfolk Beefing Eater Mid Oct

D

 
Pitmaston Pineapple Eater Early Oct

C / D

 
Somerset Redstreak Cider Oct

D

 
Sweet Alford Cider Late Oct - Early Nov

D

 
Sweet Coppin Cider Late Oct - Early Nov

D

 
Taunton Cross Eater Mid Sept

D

 
Topaz Eater Mid Oct

D

 
Tydemans Late Orange Eater Mid Oct

D

 
Winter Banana Eater Early Oct

D

 
Winter Gem Eater Oct

D

 
Yarlington Mill Cider Late Oct

D

 
Annie Elizabeth Cooker Nov

E

Partially Self Fertile
Braeburn Eater Late Oct

E

 
Browns Apple Cider Mid Oct - Early Nov

E

 
Hangy Down Cider  

E

 
Hereford Redstreak Cider  

E

 
Orleans Reinette Eater / Cider Mid Oct

E

Triploid
Red Pixie Eater Mid Oct

E

 
Ashton Brown Jersey Cider Nov

F

 
Isaac Newton's Tree / Flower of Kent Cooker Mid Oct

F

 
Major Cider Late Sept - Early Oct

F

 
Court Pendu Plat Eater Mid - Late Oct

G

 
Stoke Red Cider Late Oct

G

 
Crawley beauty Cooker Mid - Late Oct

H

 
Improved Lambrook Pippin All Purpose Late Oct

H

 
Medaille d'Or Cider Late Nov

H

 

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